


Together

by Grushenka



Category: Baldur's Gate
Genre: Angst and Feels, Fluff and Angst, Grief/Mourning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-13
Updated: 2019-06-13
Packaged: 2020-05-02 13:26:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19199761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grushenka/pseuds/Grushenka
Summary: I hope you like it!!





	Together

**Author's Note:**

  * For [warlock_enthusiast](https://archiveofourown.org/users/warlock_enthusiast/gifts).



Alhana stood some distance away from him, she watched as his chest heaved with deep, uncontrolled breaths. His tanned hands clenched the edge of a low stone wall that overlooked a fountain with benches scattered about it. A woman sat with two of her children, the smallest was splashing in the water with chubby hands. The girl’s youthful exuberance contrasted sharply with the anger that hung about Anomen’s armor-clad form. 

It was a warm summer day, but Alhana didn’t notice the soft wind that swept through her auburn locks, nor the songs of the birds as they flew through the air above her. Anomen had only traveled with her for a few weeks, but they had grown close quickly. Was it too quickly? Alhana was unsure, but she was more drawn to him than she would like to admit to herself. 

They had been called back to Athkatla by a messenger, word was sent to Anomen that he should report back to his family’s estate at once. He could barely speak when he asked her if they could return together, they were in the midst of a shadow druid assault on the distant city of Trademeet. There was pain in his deep blue eyes, their usual eagerness replaced with a despair that she had never seen before. 

They left immediately, Anomen hadn’t told Alhana much about his family but she gathered from the bits and pieces of information that his father Lord Cor was a cruel, demanding man. His sister, Moira, was the sole source of light in the darkness of his youth. 

He spoke so fondly of her, his beautiful, bright sister. He left lilies on her grave, pure white, as she preferred. 

_Anomen fell to his knees and buried his face in his hands, unable to control the waves of emotion that crashed over him. Alhana rushed forward to comfort him, she wrapped her golden arms around him and pressed his shoulder into her chest. Any hesitation was gone, she rested her forehead against his temple and held him as tightly as she could. His tears fell freely on the soil that embraced her now, and forevermore._

The space between them seemed impossible to cross. 

_Authorities? You would leave this to them?! What of my sister, what of justice? Clearly Saerk is responsible, you cannot...you would not suggest I merely sit idly by and watch him remain unpunished for his crimes! He will use his wealth to circumvent the law, nothing will happen to him. Do you understand? Nothing!_

His voice echoed in her mind, his rage was palpable, she could feel her blood thrum in response to it. 

_It’s not right Anomen, you can’t take the law into your own hands. Does your father have any proof? What if he’s wrong, could you live with yourself if you killed an innocent man?!_

The answer was no, he couldn’t. Alhana didn’t try to comfort him after that discussion, instead he asked her, after a few long moments of silence, if she would accompany him to his sister’s grave. She nodded yes in reply, a few locks of hair slipped from behind her ear and fell across her cheek. There was a sudden vulnerability between them, an intimacy that they both had not anticipated. 

Anomen’s arrogance was off-putting at first, but Alhana had caught glimpses of the gentle soul that hid beneath the hardened surface. The walls he had built around himself crumbled before her and she realized that he was just like her. Young, confused, struggling to cope with life’s misfortunes. Bending beneath the crushing weight of guilt for those they couldn’t protect. 

She shook off the hesitation and stepped forward, her leather-clad feet ghosting across the paved stones that lined the streets of the Temple district. Anomen didn’t move as she slid up beside him, not even an arm’s length between them. His eyes were fixed on the fountain, on the children splashing in the water. How many times had he scolded Moira for dipping a hand into the water, for tossing a stray gold coin. Her impish smile as she insisted that she hadn’t, it was painful to remember. 

“You did the right thing, you know.”

Anomen let out a long sigh. “I _know_ that it was right, but it doesn’t feel that way, not yet.”

“Good decisions are the hardest to make. Or so I hear.” She glanced up at him with a half-grin. It faded as he turned to look down at her, his face dark. His full lips were pressed in a tight line, his chin and cheeks covered in stubble. He looked more like his father, paler than usual, his eyes circled with haunting shadows. 

Her heart beat faster as he opened his mouth to speak, then stopped. His jaw squared and he gripped the stone wall tighter. 

“I should have been here, I should have protected her,” he muttered, his voice barely escaping between his teeth. “It’s my fault that she...that she is….” He trailed off and she could see that he was fighting back tears. 

Alhana couldn’t stop her hand from slipping over his, he flinched at her touch but he didn’t pull away from her. 

“It’s not your fault Anomen, you have to believe that,” she said. Her warm fingers clasped over his, her eyes darted back and forth across his face. “Please.”

“How can I help but feel responsible? I thought only of proving myself, I relished every moment that I was out of my father’s grasp. Moira asked me to visit home more often, but I was a coward. A selfish coward.” He shook his head bitterly. “I failed her.”

Alhana squeezed his hand. “It’s ok Anomen...I understand,” she said softly, her words barely audible over the hustle and bustle of the city around them. 

Anomen looked at her, surprised. She kept her eyes fixed on the clear blue sky that peeked through the various tiled roofs and tall buildings. Alhana understood loss well, but he didn’t know her stories. Not yet. 

They stood there for a while, together. Watching in silence as the children played, as the mothers scolded them and passersby laughed. Life continued on in its seemingly endless cycle, but in those few moments of stillness they could share their grief. 

Together.


End file.
